Sara Dame Setzer: 55 Years Of Art Making

The latest exhibit in the Cherokee Alliance of Visual Artists (CAVA) gallery will be a retrospective of art works by CAVA member and former Limestone art faculty member Sara Dame Setzer.

The exhibit opens today, September 8, at 210 W. Frederick Street. A reception for the artist will take place on Thursday, September 15, starting at 5:30 p.m. Setzer will be available for a gallery talk and walk at 5 p.m. that evening.

The retrospective will include selections from her 55 years of art making, half of which were created while she was teaching art at Limestone. Setzer said having a retrospective exhibit is special and not something to take for granted, which makes her feel “very lucky.” She stated that artists of some significance are sometimes awarded such an exhibit after their death. “It’s nice to have this one while I’m still here,” Setzer quipped.

Setzer was one of the founding members of CAVA and has been a member of the exhibits committee for about 13 years and served as its chair for a few years. CAVA members know how much she loves helping make Gaffney and the visitors center and art gallery a special place. Choosing works for the show has not been effortless, she noted.

“I wanted to be comprehensive as to the main ideas I have dealt with and to make sure they are represented adequately,” she said. “However, CAVA’s gallery is not overly large so I have had to be very selective. The majority of works or themes represent subjects that have had special significance for me, ones I worked with over a period of time or returned to for inspiration.

“Examples include drawings of early nebulizers; those old-fashioned nebulizers are a thing of the past, but they were important for helping asthmatics to breathe. I saw them as intricate, beautiful shapes. About the same time I started a series of playgrounds based on two very different ones in Gaffney. These were followed by house paintings, mine in particular, attic occupants, a baby bird, and a special cat.”

Setzer continued, “Around 1995, I started creating monoprints, one-of-a-kind images created on a master surface and printed on paper. Creating monoprints was so much fun, I didn’t return to painting for almost 20 years. Recently I have enjoyed painting small pictures of people reading, especially of friends. Several CAVA themes for our exhibits have broadened the kinds of subjects I respond to such as women’s suffrage and current political events.”

The exhibit will be on view through October 28. The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Fridays from 8:30 a.m. until 3:45 p.m. CAVA’s Sales Gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 12 noon.

For more information, call the CAVA Gallery at 864-489-9119.

(Article by The Gaffney Ledger)